> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.onesignal.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Remove alias
> Remove a specific alias from a user.
## Overview
Use this API to remove a specific alias from a user’s identity object without deleting the user. This operation only affects user identity labels—subscriptions and the core user record remain intact. To delete a user entirely, including all associated aliases and subscriptions, see the [Delete user](/reference/delete-user) API.
***
## How to use this API
To remove an alias from a user:
1. Identify the user via a known alias by specifying:
* `alias_label` – the type of alias (e.g., email, external\_id)
* `alias_id` – the unique identifier for that alias
2. Specify the alias to remove using:
* `alias_label_to_delete` – the label of the alias to be deleted
The `alias_label_to_delete` can be the same as the `alias_label` used to identify the user.
3. This action is performed synchronously—the alias is deleted immediately after the request is processed.
The `onesignal_id` alias cannot be deleted. Only secondary aliases (like email, external\_id, etc.) are removable.
For a full explanation of identity management, see [Users](/docs/en/users) and [Aliases](/docs/en/aliases).
***
## FAQ
### Can I delete the same alias that I used to look up the user?
Yes. This is a common scenario—especially if an alias was set incorrectly and needs to be removed. Just be sure to include that alias both as the identifier and as alias\_label\_to\_delete.
If you want to delete the entire user and all associated data, use the [Delete user](/reference/delete-user) API.
### What happens if I delete all aliases associated with the user?
A user will always retain at least one alias, the onesignal\_id. Even if you remove all other aliases, the user and their subscriptions remain linked to the onesignal\_id.
***
## OpenAPI
````yaml DELETE /apps/{app_id}/users/by/{alias_label}/{alias_id}/identity/{alias_label_to_delete}
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
title: api.onesignal.com
version: '11.6'
servers:
- url: https://api.onesignal.com
security:
- {}
paths:
/apps/{app_id}/users/by/{alias_label}/{alias_id}/identity/{alias_label_to_delete}:
delete:
summary: Delete alias
description: Remove a specific alias from a user.
operationId: delete-alias
parameters:
- name: app_id
in: path
description: >-
Your OneSignal App ID in UUID v4 format. See [Keys &
IDs](/docs/en/keys-and-ids).
schema:
type: string
required: true
- name: alias_label
in: path
description: >-
The alias name or key to locate the user. Most commonly set as
`external_id` but can be the `onesignal_id` or a [custom
alias](/docs/aliases).
schema:
type: string
default: external_id
required: true
- name: alias_id
in: path
description: The specific identifier for the given alias to identify the user.
schema:
type: string
required: true
- name: alias_label_to_delete
in: path
description: The name of the alias to remove.
schema:
type: string
required: true
responses:
'200':
description: '200'
content:
application/json:
schema:
type: object
properties:
identity:
type: object
properties:
onesignal_id:
type: string
description: >-
The OneSignal ID of the user. See
[Users](/docs/users).
example: OneSignal-ID-in-UUID-v4-format
'400':
description: '400'
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/StructuredErrorResponse'
example:
errors:
- code: internal error code
title: example error title
'404':
description: '404'
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/StructuredErrorResponse'
example:
errors:
- code: internal error code
title: example error title
'429':
description: >-
Rate limit exceeded. Wait the number of seconds in the `Retry-After`
header before retrying.
headers:
Retry-After:
description: >-
Number of seconds to wait before retrying the request. Always
emitted on 429 responses.
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 0
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/StructuredErrorResponse'
example:
errors:
- code: Rate Limit Exceeded
title: API rate limit exceeded
'503':
description: >-
Service temporarily unavailable. Retry after a short backoff. The
body may be empty or non-JSON in some failure modes.
headers:
Retry-After:
description: >-
Number of seconds to wait before retrying. Optional — may be
absent when the response is generated upstream.
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 0
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/BasicErrorResponse'
example:
errors:
- Service temporarily unavailable
deprecated: false
x-codeSamples:
- lang: typescript
label: Node.js SDK
source: |-
import Onesignal from '@onesignal/node-onesignal';
const configuration = Onesignal.createConfiguration({
restApiKey: '',
});
const apiInstance = new Onesignal.DefaultApi(configuration);
// string
const appId: string = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000";
// string
const aliasLabel: string = "external_id";
// string
const aliasId: string = "YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID";
// string
const aliasLabelToDelete: string = "external_id";
try {
const response = await apiInstance.deleteAlias(appId, aliasLabel, aliasId, aliasLabelToDelete);
console.log(response);
} catch (e) {
if (e instanceof Onesignal.ApiException) {
// `e.errorMessages` flattens any error-envelope shape to a `string[]`;
// the raw parsed body remains on `e.body`.
console.error("deleteAlias failed: HTTP " + e.code, e.errorMessages);
} else {
throw e;
}
}
- lang: python
label: Python SDK
source: >-
import onesignal
from onesignal.api import default_api
from onesignal.models import *
from pprint import pprint
# See configuration.py for a list of all supported configuration
parameters.
# Some of the OneSignal endpoints require ORGANIZATION_API_KEY token
for authorization, while others require REST_API_KEY.
# We recommend adding both of them in the configuration page so that
you will not need to figure it out yourself.
configuration = onesignal.Configuration(
rest_api_key = "YOUR_REST_API_KEY", # App REST API key required for most endpoints
organization_api_key = "YOUR_ORGANIZATION_KEY" # Organization key is only required for creating new apps and other top-level endpoints
)
# Enter a context with an instance of the API client
with onesignal.ApiClient(configuration) as api_client:
# Create an instance of the API class
api_instance = default_api.DefaultApi(api_client)
app_id = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
alias_label = "external_id"
alias_id = "YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID"
alias_label_to_delete = "external_id"
# example passing only required values which don't have defaults set
try:
api_response = api_instance.delete_alias(app_id, alias_label, alias_id, alias_label_to_delete)
pprint(api_response)
except onesignal.ApiException as e:
print("Exception when calling DefaultApi->delete_alias: %s\n" % e)
print("Status Code: %s" % e.status)
print("Response Body: %s" % e.body)
- lang: php
label: PHP SDK
source: |-
setRestApiKeyToken('YOUR_REST_API_KEY')
->setOrganizationApiKeyToken('YOUR_ORGANIZATION_API_KEY');
$apiInstance = new onesignal\client\Api\DefaultApi(
// If you want use custom http client, pass your client which implements `GuzzleHttp\ClientInterface`.
// This is optional, `GuzzleHttp\Client` will be used as default.
new GuzzleHttp\Client(),
$config
);
$app_id = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'; // string
$alias_label = 'external_id'; // string
$alias_id = 'YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID'; // string
$alias_label_to_delete = 'external_id'; // string
try {
$result = $apiInstance->deleteAlias($app_id, $alias_label, $alias_id, $alias_label_to_delete);
print_r($result);
} catch (\onesignal\client\ApiException $e) {
echo 'Exception when calling DefaultApi->deleteAlias: ', $e->getMessage(), PHP_EOL;
echo 'Status Code: ', $e->getCode(), PHP_EOL;
// getErrorMessages() flattens any error-envelope shape to a string[];
// the raw body remains on getResponseBody().
echo 'Error Messages: ', implode(', ', $e->getErrorMessages()), PHP_EOL;
echo 'Response Body: ', $e->getResponseBody(), PHP_EOL;
} catch (\Exception $e) {
echo 'Exception when calling DefaultApi->deleteAlias: ', $e->getMessage(), PHP_EOL;
}
- lang: go
label: Go SDK
source: |-
package main
import (
"context"
"fmt"
"os"
"github.com/OneSignal/onesignal-go-api/v5"
)
func main() {
appId := "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000" // string |
aliasLabel := "external_id" // string |
aliasId := "YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID" // string |
aliasLabelToDelete := "external_id" // string |
configuration := onesignal.NewConfiguration()
apiClient := onesignal.NewAPIClient(configuration)
restAuth := context.WithValue(context.Background(), onesignal.RestApiKey, "YOUR_REST_API_KEY") // App REST API key required for most endpoints
resp, r, err := apiClient.DefaultApi.DeleteAlias(restAuth, appId, aliasLabel, aliasId, aliasLabelToDelete).Execute()
if err != nil {
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error when calling `DefaultApi.DeleteAlias``: %v\n", err)
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Full HTTP response: %v\n", r)
if apiErr, ok := err.(*onesignal.GenericOpenAPIError); ok {
// ErrorMessages() flattens any error-envelope shape to a []string;
// the raw body remains on Body().
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error Messages: %v\n", apiErr.ErrorMessages())
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Response Body: %s\n", apiErr.Body())
}
}
// response from `DeleteAlias`: UserIdentityBody
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "Response from `DefaultApi.DeleteAlias`: %v\n", resp)
}
- lang: ruby
label: Ruby SDK
source: |-
require 'onesignal'
# setup authorization
OneSignal.configure do |config|
# Configure Bearer authorization: rest_api_key
config.rest_api_key = 'YOUR_BEARER_TOKEN'
end
api_instance = OneSignal::DefaultApi.new
app_id = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000' # String |
alias_label = 'external_id' # String |
alias_id = 'YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID' # String |
alias_label_to_delete = 'external_id' # String |
begin
result = api_instance.delete_alias(app_id, alias_label, alias_id, alias_label_to_delete)
p result
rescue OneSignal::ApiError => e
puts "Error when calling DefaultApi->delete_alias: #{e}"
puts "Status Code: #{e.code}"
# `e.error_messages` flattens any error-envelope shape to an Array;
# the raw body remains on `e.response_body`.
puts "Error Messages: #{e.error_messages}"
puts "Response Body: #{e.response_body}"
end
- lang: java
label: Java SDK
source: |-
// Import classes:
import com.onesignal.client.ApiClient;
import com.onesignal.client.ApiException;
import com.onesignal.client.Configuration;
import com.onesignal.client.auth.*;
import com.onesignal.client.model.*;
import com.onesignal.client.api.DefaultApi;
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ApiClient defaultClient = Configuration.getDefaultApiClient();
defaultClient.setBasePath("https://api.onesignal.com");
// Configure HTTP bearer authorization: rest_api_key
HttpBearerAuth rest_api_key = (HttpBearerAuth) defaultClient.getAuthentication("rest_api_key");
rest_api_key.setBearerToken("BEARER TOKEN");
DefaultApi apiInstance = new DefaultApi(defaultClient);
String appId = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"; // String |
String aliasLabel = "external_id"; // String |
String aliasId = "YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID"; // String |
String aliasLabelToDelete = "external_id"; // String |
try {
UserIdentityBody result = apiInstance.deleteAlias(appId, aliasLabel, aliasId, aliasLabelToDelete);
System.out.println(result);
} catch (ApiException e) {
System.err.println("Exception when calling DefaultApi#deleteAlias");
System.err.println("Status code: " + e.getCode());
// getErrorMessages() flattens any error-envelope shape to a List;
// the raw body remains on getResponseBody().
System.err.println("Error messages: " + e.getErrorMessages());
System.err.println("Reason: " + e.getResponseBody());
System.err.println("Response headers: " + e.getResponseHeaders());
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
- lang: csharp
label: C# SDK
source: |-
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using OneSignalApi.Api;
using OneSignalApi.Client;
using OneSignalApi.Model;
namespace Example
{
public class DeleteAliasExample
{
public static void Main()
{
Configuration config = new Configuration();
config.BasePath = "https://api.onesignal.com";
// Configure Bearer token for authorization: rest_api_key
config.AccessToken = "YOUR_BEARER_TOKEN";
var apiInstance = new DefaultApi(config);
var appId = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"; // string |
var aliasLabel = "external_id"; // string |
var aliasId = "YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID"; // string |
var aliasLabelToDelete = "external_id"; // string |
try
{
UserIdentityBody result = apiInstance.DeleteAlias(appId, aliasLabel, aliasId, aliasLabelToDelete);
Debug.WriteLine(result);
}
catch (ApiException e)
{
Debug.Print("Exception when calling DefaultApi.DeleteAlias: " + e.Message );
Debug.Print("Status Code: "+ e.ErrorCode);
// e.ErrorMessages flattens any error-envelope shape to an IReadOnlyList;
// the raw body remains on e.ErrorContent.
Debug.Print("Error Messages: " + string.Join(", ", e.ErrorMessages));
Debug.Print("Response Body: " + e.ErrorContent);
Debug.Print(e.StackTrace);
}
}
}
}
- lang: rust
label: Rust SDK
source: |-
use onesignal_rust_api::apis::configuration::Configuration;
use onesignal_rust_api::apis::default_api;
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let mut configuration = Configuration::new();
configuration.rest_api_key_token = Some("YOUR_REST_API_KEY".to_string());
// Realistic values are pulled from the spec's `example:` fields where present.
let app_id: &str = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000";
let alias_label: &str = "external_id";
let alias_id: &str = "YOUR_USER_EXTERNAL_ID";
let alias_label_to_delete: &str = "external_id";
match default_api::delete_alias(&configuration, app_id, alias_label, alias_id, alias_label_to_delete).await {
Ok(resp) => println!("{:?}", resp),
Err(e @ onesignal_rust_api::apis::Error::ResponseError(_)) => {
// `e.error_messages()` flattens any error-envelope shape to a Vec;
// the raw response remains on the ResponseError variant.
eprintln!("delete_alias failed: {:?}", e.error_messages());
}
Err(e) => eprintln!("delete_alias failed: {:?}", e),
}
}
components:
schemas:
StructuredErrorResponse:
type: object
properties:
errors:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/StructuredErrorItem'
BasicErrorResponse:
type: object
properties:
errors:
type: array
items:
type: string
description: One or more human-readable error messages.
success:
type: boolean
description: >-
Present (and `false`) on some endpoints (notifications, templates,
segments). Not emitted by every endpoint.
reference:
type: array
items:
type: string
description: >-
Documentation URL fragments related to the error. Only emitted by
the API-key auth error helpers.
StructuredErrorItem:
type: object
required:
- code
- title
properties:
code:
type: string
description: >-
Stable error-code identifier. Use this for programmatic branching in
your integration.
title:
type: string
description: >-
Human-readable error message intended for logs and operator-facing
surfaces.
meta:
type: object
additionalProperties: true
description: >-
Optional structured details about this specific error. The shape of
`meta` varies by `code` — for example, the create-user `Conflict`
code returns `{ conflicting_aliases: { [alias_label]: alias_id } }`.
````